


Twenty-One Girls

by a_t_rain



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Gen, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 02:43:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3633723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_t_rain/pseuds/a_t_rain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ivan serves as Miles's voting proxy, and encounters an unusually large number of female lobbyists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twenty-One Girls

“How nice to see you again, Ivan,” said the Count. “What can I do for you?”

“You can call off your _lobbyists_ ,” said Ivan, with a snarl that was only partly directed at the Count. The other part was intended for the absent Miles, who should jolly well have warned him about this aspect of being a voting proxy before he left for Marilac. “I can’t go out in public nowadays without being _swarmed by dozens of girls_.”

“There aren’t _dozens_ of them. Only twenty-one.” For some reason, this statement caused a faint chime of alarm at the back of Ivan’s mind, but before he had time to place it, the Count continued, with a wicked gleam of amusement, “Besides, I’ve never known you to complain about being swarmed by girls before. You must be getting old.”

“I’m not _old_ , just _married_ ,” said Ivan, “and these girls are all terrifyingly proper and _earnest_ , and what’s more, they’re underage.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do anything about the underage part. We needed them to be seventeen years old, for obvious reasons. And we had to pick the ones who would make the very best impression on the Council of Counts, and that does mean proper and earnest, most of the time. There were several hundred applicants. _I_ would not have made the cut, at their age. Olivia might have.”

“You found several _hundred_ girls who want a military career?”

“Several hundred who cared enough to devote the last summer of their carefree school days to _campaigning_ for the right to one. I’d imagine the number who _want_ it is at least ten times higher.” Dono paused for a moment to let this sink in. “Since you’re new to party politics, here’s a helpful hint about how to get rid of lobbyists. I’ve always found that the most effective way is to let them know they’ve already got your vote.”

“Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?” said Ivan. “It’s not _my_ vote, it’s the Vorkosigan’s District vote. And Miles didn’t leave me any instructions about this issue, since the bill wasn’t introduced until a week after he left.”

“Your cousin has quite a bevy of daughters of his own. That might tell you something about how he’d like you to vote.”

“That cuts two ways, doesn’t it? Count Vorkalloner was just telling me the other day that as soon as I had a daughter of my own, I’d understand why putting them in the line of fire was a bad idea.”

“Hmm, yes, I suppose that means you’ll just have to exercise your own judgment. I expect you’ve met most of our twenty-one by now. Did they leave you with the impression that they’ll make good officers, or not?”

“They’ll make very good officers,” Ivan admitted. “ _Much_ better than most of the young men they’re sending us these days.” There was no question that Dono and Olivia had chosen well; the girls he’d spoken with were bright, articulate, mature, and respectful, if a little _too_ determined for Ivan’s tastes.

“Well, then.”

“All right, you can rely on my vote. But – do you realize what people are _calling_ these girls?”

“I have no doubt that people are calling them quite a lot of things. And I imagine they will call them worse things after we win, perhaps for a decade or more, until it becomes so commonplace that everybody takes it for granted. _I_ have been called most of those things, so I was well aware that we would need to choose young women who could take it.”

“They’re calling them _Count Vorrutyer’s Army_.”

“Oh, is that all? I came up with that one myself. Got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

The trouble with Dono, Ivan thought, was that he hadn’t been _brought up_ as a Vor male, so he tended to rush in recklessly and fearlessly, doing things that one simply _did not do_. And he did them without a second thought. “Look, Dono – you _don’t_ – I mean, obviously you _did_ , but you shouldn’t. That’s playing a dangerous game.” He stopped, alarmed by a new spark in the Count’s eyes. When you told Vorrutyers they were playing a dangerous game, it only _encouraged_ them.

“I’m touched by your concern, Ivan, but I trust that most people can recognize a metaphor when they hear one.”

“Unless they decide to willfully misunderstand. You’ve got your share of enemies. What do you think Boriz Vormoncrief will make of this, for instance?”

The Count grinned. “I’m rather _hoping_ he’ll try to nail me under Vorloupulous’s Law. Don’t forget, he can’t do it without also acknowledging that these young women are plausible _soldiers_.”


End file.
